I remember a few years ago when a DIY guy took a 1960's satellite spy camera and re-purposed it to take pictures here on earth, taking the then highest-resolution pictures.

Now, a company called gigapan makes a relatively cheap mount for your dSLR or compact camera and automatically takes a range of pictures of a set field. You then use their software to stich them all together. I have done this by hand, putting together about 5-6 photos to create 50+megaixel images.

This is the kind of thing digital photography was really meant for - breaking the boundaries of what used to be possible. The first generation of just replacing film and doing the same things is just about over, I welcome the coming of the second generation of digital photography, where it really breaks new ground.